The spirit “of grace”

How do we receive this baptism of the Holy Spirit?
First, believe that it is yours. There’s no need to beg or plead or wait as the disciples did 2000 years ago. Now, after the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has come and we simply receive the Spirit’s baptism as a gift. Second, recognize that it is by grace. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the spirit of grace. Many erroneously think that they must make themself worthy. Not so! The biblical record is clear that the Holy Spirit comes as a gift by faith, [Galatians 3:1-5].
I was baptized in the Holy Spirit two years after I had received Christ as my Saviour. It was quite a struggle for me, because I thought I had to prove myself worthy. For a time I and a group of young people participated in early-morning prayer meetings in order to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but in the end none of us received what we had hoped for. We were all shocked when a young man who wasn’t a Christian, one night decided to receive Christ as his Saviour and within minutes he was baptized with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues. We wondered how God could do this so quickly, especially as we had worked so hard to receive this gift. This didn’t fit our understanding of the necessary requirements to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Already back then, I’m convinced that God was trying to show me that all is by grace and not by effort, but my religious upbringing had clouded my understanding.